Friday, September 18, 2015

Willy-nilly Friday 5: Going Home...

I spent last weekend in Middletown, Ohio, where I grew up. My mother was recently moved to assisted living and after a huge amount of work by my sisters and brothers, we had an estate sale last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here are some of my observations about the
event.

1. My mother had a lot of stuff. Here’s a photo of a table full of her stuff
on the second day of the sale. There were other tables full of stuff throughout the house. We sold a lot of this stuff. There was
twice as much as this there the day before.

In the end, almost all of this kind of stuff sold, but this didn’t
sell.

I think that is a statement about how people
live today. An almost flawless service for 12, this china was a bargain, but
people just don’t entertain formally these days. Heck, I can’t remember ever eating off of
these dishes so we weren’t so formal either.
Or else my mother lived in fear that something might happen to them…no
clue.

This didn't sell during the sale either.

I can’t tell you how many people came through
and said what a nice piano this is. “It’s
yours!” I’d say. “Nah,” they’d say. “Don’t have the space for it…can’t play
anyhow… already have a keyboard.” But,
lucky for us, I believe that it has been claimed at this point. Happy playing to whoever got it.

2. This is the house I grew up in. We moved there from upstate New York in 1956 when I was almost three so it is really the only house I remember as a child. I have three brothers and three sisters, but
we managed to fit somehow. Well, my
father added this room and that room as the family got bigger. There is a large great room on the back that
is not visible from the street and at one time, the basement was fixed up and
my sister Cindy and I had bedrooms down there.
My nephew Neil is sprucing it up on the inside, then it is going on the
market.

When we moved in, the house had no garage and
very little landscaping. In fact, the
yard was mostly mud. But over the years
and with lots of work, the yard got nicer.
That huge pine tree in the front yard was our Christmas tree that my
father planted after the holidays were over.
I don’t think he ever thought it would get that big or he would have
planted it further away from the house.

3. One of the features of a ranch house is the
hallway. For whatever reason, my father
started taking pictures of us coming out of the doors in the hallway. Here are a few:

This one was probably taken in 1957. Left to right: That's me, Judy, Susan and Cindy.

Here we added my brother Mark to the mix. Left to right: Judy, Cindy, Mark, Susan and me looking kind of maniacal.

Daddy needed to focus a little better on this one or else we weren't being cooperative, but brother Rob was added to this one. Left to right standing: Judy, Cindy, Susan (sans head) and me. Mark is on the left on the floor and there's Rob.

This photo was taken in 2008 and is the only one that includes all of us. Any of you with large families know how hard it is to get everyone together in one spot. Left to right: Cindy, Susan, Rob, me, Jay and Judy. Mark is kneeling.

And we took one last one this past weekend in the almost empty house. Unfortunately, Jay was not around. Left to right: Cindy, Rob, me, Susan, Jude and Mark.

4. As a person who really cherishes my alone time,
I spent the nights in a local hotel. It
was nice to be able to get back there and collapse on the bed at the end of the
day. But I did get the wonderful opportunity
to see my friend Gloria, who dropped by the house and brought these from theBonBonerie Pastry Shopin Cincinnati so we could keep our energy levels up. As tempting as it was, I couldn't bite into that owl. My sister Judy had no such compunction.

Our friends Ruby and Mark brought us gourmet lunches
each day giving us a nice, relaxing break.

And I got to see my friends Dona and Joanne who
both married men named Bob. We got some
pretty good laughs in.

Seeing my mother
in her new place was not such a good time as she continues to be rather
unsettled, but we did have a pleasant visit and I am glad she is in a nice, safe place.

5. And finally, because this has gone on way too
long, we had fantastic weather the whole time and I had great weather to get
home. The Accuweather app on my phone didn’t agree but I have proof. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Someone suggested that I had accidentally keyed in some other Middletown, but I checked. Maybe Accuweather keyed in some other Middletown.

14 comments:

Hello, Barbara. I hope your Mom is happy in her new place. I enjoyed the post amd images. Especially the series of photos of you and your siblings from when you were little till now. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

When I see the pictures of the kids smiling from rooms. Your dad had a unique way of taking pictures. I like it. I know when the Grand-kids get about 16 on. They don't really like getting pictures taken standing to pose. Also when we have special events. It is supper and down to the rec room and play games on the T.V with all those gadgets.

And I moved and being older. Grandma here. Your right I took my stuff 90% to the antique place near where I live now. We are in a senior home.

My daughter is 51 and she has beautiful dishes and she rarely uses her. I plan to leave her mine. She came up and she arranged mine in my china cabinet.I do use mine more then I thought. So that is good.

She loves them and if she is willing to have then when the Lord calls me home. Then I am okay with that.

My sons married women who's Grandparents have left them chinaware already and one has a Mom who passed on way too early so she has lots from her Mom.So they have said anything you have give to your daughter and even the rings.

Grandchildren no they are in a different world. Not many like Antique. They are laid back and enjoy the world out there like sports, theater, movies, rock groups. They hardly cook. Never entertained unless it is Pitza or going to fast Restaurants.

So your Mom had a lot of beautiful pieces of China. I know the people who like them here is the antique dealers and then from there auctioneers. For the ones who are really and truly into that kind is the ones.Who will buy it from you.

Your piano your lucky you got a buyer as now it is all the musical updated instruments the world likes.

I had a piano like that but my hubby was not keen having it back then. Not enough room. So I gave mine to a cousin. She played it a lot.

I enjoyed your story and pictures. Hope you don't mine be overly commenting too much. If so. Read and delete. I don't mine. Glad you have Mom in a safe environment. Hubby and I have moved into a senior apt. Now 12 days. We like it . Have a nice weekend.

I loved the nostalgia of this post. I really liked the hallway photos through the years. What an original idea. Seeing at huge evergreen that was once a Christmas tree is amazing. I hope your mother adjusts quickly to her new home.

#1 A friend of mine is an auctioneer and he says antiques don't sell like they use to. Young folks don't want old stuff!#2 I'm older than you and I go crazy watching HG TV. Young people want lots of room with all the bells and whistles in their first house.#3 I have one sister and no aunts or uncles. The holidays were quiet times.#4 Nice sugar buzz.#5 What do apps know.Tom The Backroads Traveller

Barb, thank you for this post, I have nothing but fond memories at your parents house. Today Lily and I went to a thrift store in town, and I saw 2 sets of china, both were the same china my grandmothers on my moms side owned. I took a picture to show my mom, I am pretty sure she gave the desert rose china to Amy, I have the other set, I almost bought them but decided I have enough china that I have only used once.

i like all the photos from the past and the 2008 whole family is priceless. well they are all priceless memories. i know it must be hard to sell the house. glad you got to visit with friends and family and enjoy the time together... you are right about the dishes. my mother had my grandmothers set, when she died, my aunt took it, i never saw a single piece of it used by grandmother, mother or my aunt. i did not want it because i knew i would never use it either...

I have an attic filled with china and assorted dishes, pots and pans, night-stands, end-tables, and "stuff" that has come down from my grandmother and mom. Personally - I have NEVER used my china or silverware I received as wedding gifts. We apparently aren't 'those' type of people either.

Glad things went relatively smooth and hopefully with time your mom will find her comfort zone with her new abode.

hugs and prayers to you...this had to have been a very difficult trip...i love the family photos taken from year to year in the hall way and then to recreate it on your visit...what great memories you must have...thank you for linking and i hope your mom does well in her new home....hope you are having a great week :)

I could really identify with this post, Barbara, as my husband, brother and I have been clearing out my late mother's home in NJ. She passed away last Dec and in NJ and in early spring the 3 of us spent a week filling up a large dumpster, but not discarding household items or furniture. Before deciding to go the dumpster route, we talked to several estate sale folks, most felt there was not enough "good stuff" for them or us to make any money and none of us wanted to hold a sale. So we discarded what we could and a couple of weeks ago, I had the BR and DR furniture picked up by an auction company and donated all the other household items to a charity that would come and pick them up. This was after, we made numerous trips to area thrift stores to donate items. It's not an easy task to empty a house and like yiur mom's, we alsomput the house up for sale. I hope your mom starts to feel more comfortable over time, but know it is hard to adjust. My own mother never wanted to leave her home and she did get her wish granted to live and die in it.

About Me

I am Barb Hale and this is my photography blog. I started this blog for the sole purpose of sharing my photography with others. I am an amateur photographer who is constantly learning. And I so enjoy the simple act of taking a photo. I hope you enjoy my work.

My father left a legacy of thousands of photos and slides behind when he passed. Most were snaps of family and friends. I probably inherited my love of taking pictures from him but I don’t take many pics of people. I prefer photographing things and bits of nature.

Confucius said, “Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.” I accept that statement as truth. There is beauty all around you if you bother to look. There is beauty in the mundane and commonplace…and sometimes there is even perfection.